The show takes its foot off the gas with episode 5. At this point in the story, Fisk is on house arrest and he finally figurs out Daredevil’s identity. Foggy and Karen are working to figure out his next move, and Matt’s several feet deep into the Hudson River…

Watching his empire (Marvel/Netflix)

Fisk’s taking risks

Vincent D’Onofrio was everywhere in this episode as he continues to makes Matt’s life hell by framing an FBI fixer with his name. Karen, seeing right through him, pursues the real fixer, Felix Manning, but she gets caught off guard when he reveals that he has incriminating evidence from her past (the dead brother). This episode shows Fisk as a criminal mastermind—he’s staying five steps ahead of everyone.

Headphones on, world off (Marvel/Netflix)

Covering all the bases

Dex has been something of an enigma ever since he showed up back in episode 2. Daredevil digs into what makes him tick. Fisk discovers tapes from his psychiatrist and the show bleeds out into a black-and-white flashback where it details his childhood and his ridiculous dexterity (pun intended!) His aim is so good for little league baseball that he had to get benched. It triggered him, and he ricochets a baseball to kill his coach!

(Sidebar: The baseball memories also took influence from Daniel Way and Steve Dillon’s Bullseye: Greatest Hits)

Art by Mike Deodato, Jr. (Marvel)

The therapy sessions highlight one similarity between Dex and Matt. Both have had an angry childhood that gave them physical gifts. Matt was able to rise above losing both his parents, whereas for Dex, working for the FBI gave him structure—his “North Star”, so to speak. Dex’s fascination with Julie has gone south when he reveals that he’s been stalking her. At his lowest point, Fisk takes advantage of Dex’s broken psyche and he begins to take him under his wing to get Hell’s Kitchen to ignore him before he can take the next steps of his evil scheme.

Chasing shadows

Nadeem, desperate for answers, goes to Karen and Foggy to ask about Matt’s whereabouts. Karen’s panic over killing Wesley is eating her alive and she finally confesses to Foggy that she killed him. Woll’s performance was terrific as I bought her fearing for her life. Matt, somehow, arrives back in his apartment in a flashback before fleeing once again.

Overall, Daredevil slows things down with this episode. Every scene mattered as Dex gets the spotlight. Fisk gets to move forward with his plan, and a two-season-old plot thread gets resolved!

My fandom is multifaceted—I watch every Marvel live-action property (film and television alike) as well as DC's lineup. 'Daredevil' Season 1 made me take the leap into reading comics. I also have an affinity for strong, well-written female characters. I also love prestige series such as 'Game of Thrones', 'The Wire', 'Better Call Saul' and 'Atlanta'. When I'm not writing or watching Netflix, I'm a massive gamer and my PS4 is so worth two hours of my day.